‘Pile of trash’: Simmons ‘hack job’ slammed by 76ers

Ben Simmons’ basketball team is furious about a report that claims he missed a game because he was partying with supermodel Kendall Jenner.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — APRIL 04: Kendall Jenner attends the Tiffany & Co. Flagship Store Launch on April 04, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

The 76ers have gone on the offensive after a sensational report in the New York Daily News claimed Ben Simmons missed a game this season because he was out partying with Kendall Jenner.

The report, which has since been altered, claimed Simmons was out with Jenner in Miami the night before a March 25 game against the Orlando Magic. He missed the 21-point defeat because of a stomach virus, according to the 76ers.

The article, written by veteran NBA scribe Chris Sheridan, was updated with a correction that removed any mention of Jenner and clarified Simmons was in Orlando the night before the game.

But there were several other bombshell accusations in the copy which Sheridan is defending despite 76ers communications chief Dave Sholler describing it as “one of the most irresponsible hack jobs I’ve ever seen in more than a decade of working in sports. Factual inaccuracies, made-up stories, and references to convos that never happened. This is a steaming pile of trash. Steaming. Pile.”

This is one of the most irresponsible hack jobs I’ve ever seen in more than a decade of working in sports. Factual inaccuracies, made-up stories, and references to convos that never happened. This is a steaming pile of trash. Steaming. Pile.

— Dave Sholler (@DaveSholler) April 17, 2019

Citing a “source close to the team”, Sheridan wrote the stomach virus “was a fallacy, although that is nothing new for the Sixers organisation. They used to do the same thing when Allen Iverson was partying and gambling his nights away in Atlantic City”.

He also reported 76ers general manager Elton Brand “made it known to ownership sometime before the trade deadline that the organisation needed to consider trading Simmons because the youngster was simply not coachable, and was a regular-season player annually exposed in the playoffs”.

He even added a critique of Simmons’ free throw shooting as an example of his unwillingness to take on instruction. “Ever wonder why Simmons is such a poor free throw shooter? It is because he does not bend his knees. Countless coaches have tried to tell Simmons that bending his knees would solve his problems, but he refuses to listen.”

The report also claimed Brown would be fired unless the 76ers make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

SIMMONS, BROWN RESPOND, WRITER DOUBLES DOWN

We're talking about the regular season? (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Simmons and Brown were asked about the story on Thursday. “I am not worried about it; are you talking about the regular season?” Simmons said.

“We are talking about the play-offs. Unless you want to talk about something else, (go) somewhere else with it. (It’s) the play-offs right now.”

“I am aware of it,” Brown added. “I have not read it, and I won’t. I have nothing to say about it.”

Sheridan wrote a second piece in response to Sholler’s criticism. “I published a story in the Daily News today that caused quite a stir in Philadelphia, and rightfully so. It divulged some secrets that the organisation would like to have been kept quiet, because they do not want to risk alienating a superstar — in this case, Ben Simmons,” he wrote.

“Trick of the trade: You can tell when you’ve struck a nerve when you see a seasoned professional suddenly start acting like a 4th grader …

“Sholler’s inability to do so with dignity in response to the New York Daily News story concerning internal turmoil within the Philadelphia 76ers was a dead giveaway that the story was right on the money.

“When you have been covering the NBA for 32 years, you learn to see a few telltale signs.

And when you break a story that nobody else has, the formula usually goes like this: Deny, deny, deny. Attack the credibility of the reporter, say something venomous on Twitter to incite ridicule, and then hope everyone believes the cover story rather than the true story. They teach this stuff in journalism schools in public relations classes.”